Pedro Martinez said again Saturday he was not
concerned about his progress with Opening Day two weeks away. "I'm not 100
percent yet, at least mechanically," said Martinez, who allowed six earned
runs and six hits in four innings. "But my body feels really good. [The
shoulder] feels fine. It feels normal. My mechanics and my pitches are not
there. I actually felt better in the first outing than in the last two."

Martinez has surrendered nine hits and nine
earned runs over his last two starts. "My performance was really bad. I
gave up a lot of homers, a lot of runs. Everything else was just fine. My body
is fine -- that's what matters."

Yesterday, Martinez had an outing that caused no
small amount of squirming, not only in the owners' suites but in the living
rooms of New England, where TV images offered confirmation of what was taking
place here: The Yankees banged Martinez for six runs in four innings on six
hits, including three home runs, one by a 23-year-old Venezuelan outfielder,
Juan Rivera, described by manager Joe Torre before the game as a ''baby.''

Manager Grady Little took a similarly upbeat
approach. "The condition of [his shoulder] is good. When you've been
through what he's been through, the last thing that's going to come back is the
command of his delivery and his pitches. The number-one concern is the condition
of his arm. His command and delivery comes next." ...

Internally, the Red Sox have discussed the
possibility of leaving Martinez behind here when they leave March 28, and
delaying his regular-season debut a bit. But Martinez isn't interested in
staying behind.

Pedro Martinez insists that there is no need for
panic, but the undeniable key to the Red Sox' success appears to be heading in
the wrong direction with only two more appearances scheduled before Opening Day.

"My performance was really bad, but I got my
work in. I gave up a lot of homers and runs, but my body's fine. That's all that
matters. ... I just couldn't control the ball all day. I kept missing locations
and leaving the ball over the plate. ... There's no need to worry. If you're
going to start panicking now, we're in trouble, deep trouble.''

Red Sox manager Grady Little expressed some
doubts whether Martinez will be ready by Opening Day. "If Pedro's ready to
go April 1st he will," Little said. "If not, we'll wait a couple days.
His body will tell us what he can do." Martinez, who said he is on track to
pitch the season opener, is scheduled to make two more starts in spring
training. He will then throw a side session March 30 in Houston when the Red Sox
play their final exhibition game. Little will make a decision then. "What
Pedro Martinez is going through is something he's never gone through in his
life," Little said. ...

Because he has been on the job just a few days,
pitching coach Tony Cloninger knows little about Martinez and the rest of the
staff. "I don't know him at all," Martinez said. "I'm just going
to try to get to know him first and then we're going to try to work along. He
seems to be a man that has a lot of experience and worked with a lot of good
pitchers. So I just hope that I can use some of that experience to my
advantage."

They were lining up for standing-room tickets
outside City of Palms Park at 4:30 a.m. Can you have playoff atmosphere at a
spring training game? Can you have a Red Sox-Yankees brawl in an exhibition
game? Almost.

Pedro Martinez is scheduled to throw 65 pitches
or five innings, whichever comes first, in his third start of the spring this
afternoon, against the New York Yankees at City of Palms Park. Ex-manager and
pitching coach Joe Kerrigan routinely gave the three-time Cy Young Award winner
an extra day of rest when the schedule permitted over the past few seasons, but
Kerrigan's replacement said that his policy will be determined on a case-by-case
basis. "We're going to let Pedro's body decide that," Little said.

Pedro Martinez will make his third spring start
Saturday against the Yankees at City of Palms. "Pedro will pitch four or
five innings, maybe 60 or 65 pitches," Manager Grady Little said.
"We'll see what his body tells us."

Pedro Martinez is scheduled to throw about 65
pitches today when he makes his third spring start in a split-squad game against
a Yankees team that will include Derek Jeter, Bernie Williams and Jason Giambi.